A military spouse's take on blooming where you are planted. I continue to pretend I am living on my dream farm while in reality, I live on a military base, gardening in a plot alongside a Navy flightline, with half of my homesteading supplies perpetually packed in boxes and have a habit of being overly involved in every community we live in. I'm a busy mom to 2 boys and a spouse to a Navy sailor soon nearing retirement. I love this chaotic life wouldn't trade it for anything!

right now

Apr 11, 2011

working through the pain

Haven't posted in a few days, to say I'm sick would be an understatement! Apparently I injured my back last Thursday lifting 50 lb bales of soil conditioner because I woke up Friday barely able to get up or turn to either side. This is a tough one for me since I'm one of those cynics that doesn't "believe" in unexplained back pain, allergies (we'll get to that in a minute), or any of the other mystery pains many people complain about LOL. Serves me right I guess, huh? Funny thing is that I lift heavy stuff all the time, always lift properly, and don't recall any sudden injury or pain that day but it showed up 12 hours later just the same. Saturday was so-so and yesterday I managed to get a teeny-tiny bit of work done, mostly supervising hubby :) but by the time I finished making dinner I was completely done and could barely stand up. Then last night the allergies hit me, complete with fever and chills, and when that broke I was left with the classic symptoms of a foggy head, eyes, etc, and a good 5 days or so before my allergy meds kick in and start working. I don't believe in those either, but every year since I have lived in one of the top states for pollen allergies it has been getting progressively worse. I have never been bothered by them until I was about 35, guess I was lucky. It was 75ºin the house last night but I was on the couch under 2 down blankets and a heating pad on my back, pretty pathetic. Hubby said heat waves were emanating from me but I would have sworn it was 32 in the house!

Today, back was a little better this morning, but after sewing this afternoon, I'm back to wanting the heating pad on it tonight. This is the first time I have ever had any lower back pain and I don't like it, matter of fact I don't even believe in it! I guess I'm getting old :)

Even though I was hobbling around pretty badly, I managed to carry a camera and get some shots of spring chores being done and did a little bit myself:

Here's hubby mixing in some super secret stuff into my beds, Finn and his neighbor friend are working mixing it in, too!

Call it carnage or whatever, but these pretty brussels sprouts are going to get ripped out right before they "sprout brussels" LOL - I don't even like them but like the way the plants look when nothing else is growing - they are taking up very valuable real estate since I need this bed for tomatoes by the end of the week.

For the first time, we are planting tomatoes straight into the ground this year. We need more to have a proper amount canned for winter, and the space is here, it just needed to be amended with some of our compost and other secret stuff, you know, army men and other things you find when digging :)

Poor hubby with all this digging and turning, I couldn't have picked a worse weekend for a back injury... or maybe a better one? :)

Below, the 2011 Sacrificial Tomato... this year the honor goes to a Pink Brandywine! She was planted Sunday afternoon, did well last night which was no spectacular event since it only got down to 60, but did very well with a high in the 80's today with full sun. Tonight and tomorrow night will be lows in the upper 40's possibly, so depending on how she does, all the tomatoes will be planted by late this week. Not soon enough for me, as they are all about 12 inches high! This one was planted with 1/2 the plant in the soil. No eggshells or magic stuff here, since she's the sacrificial plant :)

Apple Blossoms!

Harvest this weekend: on the left are scallions and on the right, leeks. Yes, poor small leeks... but they HAD to come out of the bed... I needed it!

I used them right up... still using up our stash from freezer garden veggies but it was nice to have the addition of fresh green onions and sliced leeks in the stir fry.

After this dinner, I pretty much collapsed into a worthless heap with nothing worth writing about except how many times hubby ran around for drinks, snacks, blankets, etc for me!

Allergies and back injuries are for the weak...

(stay tuned for a recipe involving me eating those words!)

I'll leave you with a clip of Finn and his friend doing what boys are supposed to do... digging in the dirt!

I think I may have to actually take a day off tomorrow and work on the stack of magazines!

Keep sticking to your guns. No such thing as allergies. On that note, I am also going to believe there is no such thing as aging. And I have no idea why there is this grey hair on my head. It must be an optical illusion along with those lines by my eyes.

Oh, Erin, I am so, so, so, so happy your hubby was not deployed when this happened. That would have driven you right up the wall (and maybe killed you) because I know you wouldn't take care of yourself but rather have kept on keepin' on! Heal fast, Friend.

Peggi, hi! I know they say to use ice first, then heat, unfortunately I didn't read that until day 3, yikes!

Jane, no grey hairs either! They are just stray hairs off the dog that are sticking to my head :)

Mama Pea, you are right! I have yet to take anything because I don't want to dull the pain and reinjure myself, but if I was alone I would have taken 800 mg and done all the beds in one day and worried about it later, I guess I am going to have to rethink that type of behavior.

Gran, I am lucky they were all in a helpful mood!

E.G. I definitely see how bad it can be now. I have had "soreness" on many occasions, but a real injury or strain is the pits - I will take your advice and rest!

Yuck, Erin -- sounds like you've had a rough few days! Take it easy, lady... back pain is mighty real! After I had Ella by c-section, I had lots of lower back trouble and it was debilitating. But since I started practicing yoga, my back is in better shape than it was five years ago! So I'm not suggesting you take up yoga, but once your back isn't quite so tender, you might want to try some gentle stretches. Ok, that's enough mothering for one day, lol!

I feel for you! I never had back problems before either then poof! things changed. I will tell you that a massage therapist can do wonders for it. My hubby could not believe it with the pain I was in, and then the next day it was so much better. I was actually walking upright! Betsy, my massage therapist told me to get a pack of frozen peas (keep on hand only for that)since they conform better. 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. Do that for 3-4 hours and you will be amazed how much that helps. As for allergies, find a local beekeeper and start eating local honey. It was horrible for me until we became beekeepers. Now don't expect instant miracles though, things take awhile! Hope you get better soon as it looks like you've got a lot more to do....sounds like me...it's springtime!

Oh Erin, I hope you feel better soon! I was sick for two solid weeks and am finally feeling normal again. Are you sure it's allergies? I didn't know you could get chills from them. Maybe that's my problem!

Can't wait to see how your tomato beds turn out. I'm sure all of that digging was a breeze for your hubby. My gut (literally) tells me that you military folk have much more stamina than us civilians!

And no one thought to "film" Erin actually lying down and not doing ANYTHING????? OMG-that was a first in history and we MISSED IT! Rats!So sorry you've been going through all this....but you're so very lucky to have hubby home to help you out, or I know you'd have tried to do too much.(for the record, I don't believe my DOCTOR when she tells me I'm allergic to stuff like pine trees--cuz, I LOVE pine trees....how could I be allergic to them????????)

Urhg! But like you said, it came at a good time!. "oooh, honey, I'd love to help with ALL that work, but, ow...my back..and really,sweetie, let me do that digging... AHCHOO! Excuse me! I'd better go inside and lay down."

Fiona, oooh I'm glad I didn't have any of those issues with my C-sections. I was lucky I guess, I was up walking within 2 hours of each of them LOL - I'm paying for it all now :)

Sparkless, you aren't kidding - every now and then I have to remind myself that age probably does have something to do with it when I find myself not having the energy for certain tasks like I once did!

Ulrike, hi! I had massage therapy for my neck a few years ago and it did wonders for me, sadly that's not in the budget by a long shot LOL. We have been eating local honey, raw honey at that for about 5 years so I can imagine how bad it would be without it LOL, or I'm just thinking it doesn't do much for me since I am apparently sensitive to tree pollen, but it probably does help with the flowering weeds, etc that the bees feed on since that time of year my allergies aren't bad.

Thomas, glad you are feeling better, it's hard to be down during a time of the year where so many chores need to be done. Spring and late summer harvest/canning time is the worst to be sick! Actually in some people, their bodies treat the pollen as an invader and have an immuno response that is like any other infection, luckily it only happens to me as the season really gets bad, then I'm just left with the standard symptoms, although those are annoying enough!

Melissa, it's funny because he just looks at me like I'm kidding, like he can't believe I'm really not going to do anything?! LOL!

Anke, thanks! Back is a tad bit better today, I'm going to TRY and take it easy today, although it's really hard when we use our back muscles for everything!

Sorry! Definitely don't mess with back injuries (whether you BELIEVE in them or not!) Take a day off!! I love the "sacrificial tomato" plant... on those cool nights will you try to do any sort of covering? 40s is cold for tomatoes!! Good luck with the rest of your planting!

I'm no doctor, but severe back pain, high fever and chills sounds like something other than a muscle strain and allergies. If you are not better soon think about getting checked out, lots of internal infections/troubles come out as back pain, and allergies shouldn't cause a high grade fever. (((hugs))) FEEL BETTER!!

Megan, yes I'll put a dome on them if it gets too cold, the forecast is no longer showing those kind of lows, but they keep changing the darn numbers on me LOL!

Kelly, I would definitely be thinking kidney infection if it wasn't for the fact that I was hauling 50 lb wet sacks that day coupled with the fact that the pollen index was a 10 that day and I get those chills and fever with the onset of allergies every year. Allergies can cause a fever, but mine wasn't a high one, it was 100.7 so about right for that. We are home to the "allergy asthma capital" so our allergy sufferers combat the worst type of symptoms here, can't wait to move back north, although not Michigan, it's just as bad there LOL!

TAKE CARE OF THAT BACK, that is what sidelined me for 4 months last year, from July thru the end of Oct, I was stuck inside. As for Allergies, we used to keep raw honey on hand, and since it's now $12.50 a quart, we bought some bees and are making our own. I cannot wait to learn to make honey wine.

Take some of your laundry detergent, put it in a seperate container, add a few drops each of tea tree oil and eycualiptus oil, maybe even some mint, and wash your sheets with it, or at least your pillow case. That will help open things up and get them going.

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WHAT'S MY STORY?

Welcome! I'm a native Minnesota girl, Mom, Navy Veteran as well as a Navy spouse for the past 15 years. I am also a Certified Master Gardener that got the rug pulled out from under me 2 years ago... we transferred from a Virginia home with a huge garden into government quarters with a concrete back yard at our current duty station. Even when I can't garden, I'm dreaming of it. When I'm not getting dirty in the garden, I quilt, organize things, make lists, make more lists, go sailing and volunteer with the high school sailing team my kids are on. Only a couple more years until military retirement, we need a plan!

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Why the blog name?

Military life likes to throw wrenches into plans. Too many years of thinking "I'll start a garden someday"… someday with a bigger house, a nicer yard, climate, etc, etc - I just decided to DO IT and and worry about the logistics later! We are living the oxymoron of homesteading for the mobile military family and pulling it off the best we can. Follow our adventures as we carry our homestead wherever we go!